Publishing Column

In the small Virginia town where Bible-study classes were recently
found unconstitutional, another historic book is under examination.

Teachers in the Bristol, Va., school system are protesting the use
of McGuffey's Eclectic Readers on the grounds that they are "racist,
sexist, and archaic." Along with 13 other educational concerns, members
of the Bristol Virginia Education Association last month presented the
school board with the results of a survey of 165 bvea members showing
that many teachers disapprove of the books. (See Education Week, Feb.
2, 1983.)

Rachel Combs, a teacher at Virginia High School and president of the
bvea, said that "there was enough concern about some of the points in
the McGuffey Readers that we felt we had reason to go to the
board."

"We're not saying the board made the wrong decision in adopting
McGuffey Readers," Ms. Combs said.

"We felt the use of the readers should be voluntary" rather than
mandated by the board, she explained.

The books, which have been a part of Bristol's curriculum for a year
and a half, are used as supplementary readers in grades 1 through 6,
according to Evelyn Murray, director of Bristol's McGuffey program.

Ms. Murray defended the school's use of the books. "I think of it
being more a literary book," she said. "It has twice as much vocabulary
in it as [the other] basal readers. Are you going to call Poe, Keats,
and Shakespeare sexist?"

The next board meeting is scheduled for Oct. 17, but Ms. Combs said
she was not sure whether the fate of the McGuffey Readers would be
decided at that meeting.

The Council of School Attorneys, a branch of the National School Boards
Association, has published an educator's guide to the First Amendment.
Written by four lawyers, the 111-page book offers school officials an
analysis of common legal issues, including censorship, religious
freedom, and freedom of speech.

The four articles in First Amendment and the Schools, published last
month, focus on school boards' selection and removal of curricular
materials and library books; current court decisions on school prayer,
creationism, and other religious issues; censorship of student speech
and publications; and the First Amendment rights of school
employees.

The articles were adapted from papers presented at the 1983 School
Law Seminar held in San Francisco. Copies of the book are $15 each, and
may be obtained by writing to Kathleen Thomas, director, Administrative
Department, nsba Office of Federal Regulations, 1055 Thomas Jefferson
St., N.W., Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20007, or by calling (202)
337-7666.

A high-school textbook on the Middle East that was commissioned by a
pro-Israel organization has been discontinued by its publisher amid
claims by a pro-Arab group that it is racist. But the book's publisher
says the text was taken off the market simply because it wasn't selling
well.

The book, The United States and the Middle East, was written by
Philip L. Groisser, who was commissioned by the American Academic
Association for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel organization in
New York City. Following its first printing in 1982, the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington, D.C., criticized the book
as portraying Israelis favorably and Arabs and Arab countries
unfavorably.

The pro-Arab group is taking credit for the publisher's decision to
discontinue publication. But the publisher, The State University of New
York Press, says the decision to discontinue the book was made because
sales have been disappointing. "What we were doing here was
experimenting to see if we could effectively market a high-school
textbook," said Herbert McArthur, suny's assistant vice chancellor for
research and supervisor of the press.

Mr. McArthur explained that the university press usually does not
produce high-school textbooks because "we simply can't tap that
market.''

The Middle East book was the press's first high-school textbook.

"The charge of bias was not a factor in our decision," he said.

The group that initially backed the book has offered to subsidize
suny Press in continuing to print copies. "That misses the point," Mr.
McArthur said, "which is that we cannot effectively market that book."
But he explained that the pro-Israel group might ask Mr. Groisser, the
author, to rewrite the textbook for the college level. If that happens,
Mr. McArthur said, the press would be willing to reconsider the book as
a new manuscript.

Bookstores around the country reported selling record numbers of
children's books this summer, according to a report in the Sept. 2,
issue of Publishers Weekly. Summer is not usually a good time for sales
of children's books, since they have to compete with summer activities.
But this summer, business was brisk.

The report attributes the rise in sales to several factors, among
them: an increase in the number of children's paperbacks,which are less
costly than hardcover books; a variety of vacation reading lists; and
''Reading Rainbow," a PBS program that recommended specific books for
summer reading.

The most popular books sold this summer, according to the survey of
40 booksellers, were: the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series, books
related to The Return of the Jedi and other Star Wars movies, teen-age
romances, Chris Van Allsburg's The Wreck of the Zephyr, Barbara
Cooney's Miss Rumphius, and Roy Gerrard's The Favershams. Old favorites
that sold well over the summer were: Dr. Seuss and books by Shel
Silverstein, Beverly Cleary, and S.E. Hinton.--ab

Web Only

Notice: We recently upgraded our comments. (Learn more here.) If you are logged in as a subscriber or registered user and already have a Display Name on edweek.org, you can post comments. If you do not already have a Display Name, please create one here.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.